Witt, Haynes Earn FCS Academic Honors

Patrick Witt. (photo by Ron Waite, PhotoSportacular)

Jan 04, 2012

Yale Seniors Get Another Award

CLEVELAND, OH. - Patrick Witt (Atlanta, Ga.) and Jordan Haynes (Folsom, Calif.) have been named to the Football Championship Subdivision Athletics Directors Association Academic All-Star Team. They were the only selections from the Ivy League.

Fifty-eight student-athletes were chosen from 92 nominations for the 14th annual all-star team.

Haynes, a linebacker and the captain of the 2011 Bulldogs, has a 3.62 GPA and is majoring in political science and international studies. He was a first-team All-Ivy pick for the second straight year after leading Yale in tackles.

Witt, a history major with a 3.91 GPA, earned numerous academic honors while at Yale and was a Rhodes Scholar finalist. The starting quarterback the last three seasons, he owns almost every major passing record at the school.

"The FCS ADA is honored to recognize the accomplishments of our football student-athletes each year with the Academic All-Star team," said FCS ADA President Marilyn McNeil, chair of the FCS ADA Academic All-Star Team Selection Committee and vice-president/director of athletics at Monmouth University. "These young men compete successfully both on the field and in the classroom and truly epitomize the definition of a student-athlete."

Football players from all Football Championship Subdivision institutions are eligible for these prestigious awards. Each of the nominees was required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.20 (on a 4.00 scale) in undergraduate study and have been a starter or key player with legitimate athletics credentials. He must have reached his second year of athletics and academic standing at the nominated institution and have completed a minimum of one full academic year at the nominated institution. He must also have participated in 50 percent of the games played at his designated position.

Witt and Haynes were also among the 12 finalists selected for the 11th Annual FCS ADA's $5,000 postgraduate scholarship. Two student-athletes will receive postgraduate scholarships during the Association's annual membership meeting held in conjunction with the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) Convention, being held at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas, Texas, June 25-28, 2012.